Contractors’ legal obligations
Contractors who carry controlled waste must have a valid Environmental Permit, issued annually from the Environment Agency. All waste must be accompanied by a written description as specified in the Regulations, including a six-digit code conforming to the specifications of the European Waste Catalogue. (Any reputable waste carrier will be able to advise its clients as to the correct use of the code.)
If a contractor becomes aware that the waste they are carrying is not as described by their customer, then they are obliged under the Regulations to inform the Environment Agency of the problem. The contractor is also expected to inform the customer. A suspect load of waste can be refused by the carrier or by the treatment site (see Environmental Protection (Duty of Care) Regulations 1991 in the EEF Register of Environmental Legislation).
Waste producers’ legal obligations
The Environmental Protection (Duty of Care) Regulations 1991 place a duty on the waste producer to take all reasonable care to ensure that their contractors are in compliance with the relevant regulations. The Regulations are not specific as to how far this duty extends.
The minimum that a waste producer should do is to check the validity of a prospective contractor’s permit on the Environment Agency’s website. It would also be advisable to follow up with a visit to the contractor’s depot or transfer site. The depth of any audit must be left to the producer’s own judgement. However, for hazardous wastes, a high level of auditing and inspection will be required.
How far does duty of care extend?
For producers whose wastes are mainly non-hazardous, checking the credentials of their carriers to ensure legal compliance may be enough. Inspections or audits of the carriers’ premises and the disposal or treatment sites used may well be appropriate if the producer has particular concerns or if they have adopted an environmental management system.
Disposal and treatment sites
Disposal and treatment sites must have an Environmental Permit, issued and regulated by the Environment Agency. Under the Duty of Care Regulations a waste producer must only dispose of waste via a licensed site.
The types of site requiring a licence include landfills, incinerators, material recovery facilities (MRF), bailing plants and any sites where waste is unloaded from vehicles.
These sites are regulated by the Environment Agency and must fulfil many strict requirements which are set out in their licences. The site operators must employ specially trained and qualified personnel.
See checklist for auditing waste sites.
Additional controls on some wastes
Many waste materials need to be handled with additional care because they are dangerous to the environment or to human beings. To ensure that wastes which pose recognised hazards are handled and disposed of correctly, there are regulations which place additional responsibilities on all those who deal with them. This ranges from the producers through to the operators of treatment and disposal facilities. Some wastes, such as clinical wastes and radioactive materials, also have their own regulations.
See also general issues for managing contractors